884 measles cases have been confirmed in 25 U.S. states. There have been three deaths, including two school-aged children. Both children were unvaccinated, and neither suffered from any underlying conditions. 97% of all confirmed cases were reported in unvaccinated individuals. Amid this crisis, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, RFK Jr., chose to use his time and political influence to spread misinformation about vaccines causing autism.
How Did It Get So Bad So Fast?
While the measles can often present itself as a relatively inconsequential rash or fever for adults, it is much riskier to roll the dice with vaccination when it comes to children. 20% of confirmed cases reported in children under the age of 5 have resulted in hospitalizations. To make matters worse, children 17 and younger represent over half of the confirmed cases.
The MMR vaccine is extremely effective. If administered properly, there is a 97% success rate. To avoid an outbreak such as this, the vaccination rate must be at 95%. However, the national rate of unvaccinated children was 92.7% in the 2023-2024 school year. Even though Texas’s vaccination rate was very near the threshold of safety at 94.3%, rates vary between counties. Gaines County, the epicenter of the outbreak, reported vaccination rates as low as 46%.
To make matters worse, all of the states surrounding Texas had vaccination rates at or below 90%, with the exception of New Mexico. An outbreak was inevitable. It’s a wonder it didn’t happen earlier.
The United States had declared measles “eliminated” in the year 2000 due to the success of the vaccine. Vaccinated individuals only represented 3% of confirmed cases. However, no matter how small the number, it is still very unfair that these people were and are subject to others’ mistakes.
Why Aren’t People Being Vaccinated?
In Texas, like many other U.S. states, children are legally required to have two doses of the MMR vaccine, which prevents the measles, the mumps, and rubella. However, Texas law allows exemptions to vaccine laws if the parent or guardian’s “reasons of conscience” conflict with vaccination, such as their religious beliefs.
If unvaccinated children do not have an exemption, they are unable to enroll in public schools and many private schools. Therefore, religious exemptions to various vaccines have been becoming quite common.
Interestingly, according to the Pew Research Center, people from Texas are more likely to self-identify as religiously unaffiliated with each passing year. Furthermore, research has confirmed that the most common reason parents object to the MMR vaccine is out of fear that their children will contract autism spectrum disorder as a result.
It’s not the first time science and medicine have inspired similar theories. Where do you think the term “witch hunt” came from? For hundreds of years, midwives and healers faced their deaths for practicing and studying science during the European Witch Trials. Even the smallpox vaccine had its skeptics and naysayers, largely due to worries of it causing or worsening various diseases, or being “unnatural” or “un-Christian.” But that did not stop the vaccine from being so successful that the U.S. discontinued mandates in 1972 after successfully eradicating the disease.
Anti-Vaxxers & The Fear of Autism
A great deal of anti-vax rhetoric involves theories about the origin of autism and its link with vaccines. One infamous anti-vaxxer, RFK Jr., is one of the most vocal doomsayers. Though he is the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services, he cites easily disproved research with severe methodological flaws that claims vaccines are causing a rise in autism. Amid this measles outbreak, his principal concern seems to be autism diagnoses becoming more common.
RFK Jr. claims that autistic people “will never pay taxes, they’ll never hold a job, they’ll never play baseball, they’ll never write a poem, they’ll never go out on a date. Many of them will never use a toilet unassisted.” Why lump all autistic people into one extremely inaccurate, demeaning description?
There is an immense issue in treating autism like it is something that requires a cure. Autistic individuals are not broken and in need of fixing. The difficulties they face are very real, but they are not their fault. These difficulties do not stem from something inherently wrong with them. Neurodiverse people are simply different from the neurotypical majority. Unfortunately, societal structure favors the majority.
So when RFK Jr. refers to autism as an “epidemic” that is “running rampant,” while largely ignoring the current measles outbreak which was arguably caused by these kinds of statements, one might question his credibility.
The fact is, autism diagnoses are becoming more common, not autism itself. Diagnoses are extremely important in assisting those who are suffering in getting the help they need. Adjusting diagnostic criteria to be more precise may even assist in creating a more inclusive society for people with autism.
RFK Jr.’s Failures
There are no proven issues with the MMR vaccine, nor are there any issues with autism itself. There is, however, a very real issue with putting oneself and others at risk out of refusal to accept scientific fact. First, by refusing vaccination, and second, by spreading unproven, discriminatory claims about autism.
As a person in a position of authority, there is arguably a bigger issue with RFK Jr. accusing the scientific community of “epidemic denial” in regards to vaccines causing autism, when he is actively brushing off a horrific measles outbreak.
It almost seems as if RFK Jr. is projecting his insecurities onto the scientific community about his own failures. His job as the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services is “to prepare for and respond to public health and medical emergencies.” He has done nothing of the sort. In an interview with CBS News, he briefly confirmed his previous endorsement of the MMR vaccine. But a few moments later, he claimed that the vaccine had not been safely tested, and that it “wanes very quickly.”
It has now been nearly three months since this outbreak began. Dr. Kathryn Edwards, a renowned researcher, professor, and clinician, says that RFK Jr.’s endorsement of the MMR vaccine was “better late than never.” But when he follows up his statements with an endless stream of weak self-rebuttals and pseudoscientific theories, his endorsement reads as rather empty and impersonal.
All we can do now is hope that this outbreak does not claim any more innocent lives. Perhaps people will understand the importance of vaccination after witnessing such a horrific crisis.
